The Mayor Of London Thinks New York Regulators Going After Standard Chartered Are Just Jealous

Boris Johnson has accused American regulators of “protectionism”
and being “motivated by jealousy” of the City after Standard
Chartered was branded as a “rogue institution”.

The Mayor of London said he suspected the New York state
regulator’s accusations were driven by a “simple desire to knock
a rival centre” and were an example of the US being “high-handed
in her treatment of other nations”.

Using his column in The Spectator to launch a robust
counter-attack, Mr Johnson referred to a comment allegedly made
by a Standard Chartered executive at the heart of the affair:
“'You f------ Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the
world, that we can’t deal with the Iranians?”

The US regulator said the quote showed an “obvious contempt for
US banking regulations” . But Mr Johnson wrote: “I disapprove of
the language . But I have to say — and I speak as the proud
possessor of an American passport — that there seems to be
something fine and sound about the underlying sentiment.”

He added: “You can’t help wondering whether all this beating up
of British banks and bankers is starting to shade into
protectionism; and you can’t help thinking it might actually be
at least partly motivated by jealousy of London’s financial
sector — a simple desire to knock a rival.”